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QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Rates of Death Involving Exposure to Excessive Heat* Among States with the Highest Numbers of Deaths† — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2021
Weekly / September 1, 2023 / 72(35);971
* Deaths attributed to exposure to excessive natural heat as the underlying or contributing cause of death were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes P81.0 (environmental hyperthermia of newborn), T67 (effects of heat and light), and X30 (exposure to excessive natural heat, [i.e., hyperthermia]). Deaths with underlying cause code W92 (exposure to excessive heat of man-made origin, such as malfunctioning heating appliances) were excluded.
† In 2021, a total of 1,600 U.S. heat-related deaths occurred; the age-adjusted heat-related death rate was 0.4 deaths per 100,000 population. Among states with 20 or more deaths, the nine states with the highest number of deaths were Arizona (426), Washington (171), Nevada (166), California (143), Oregon (133), Texas (93), Louisiana (38), Florida (30), and Pennsylvania (26). States with the highest rates can vary from year to year, reflecting variation in weather patterns.
The 2021 age-adjusted heat-related death rate for the United States was 0.4 deaths per 100,000 population. A total of 1,600 deaths were reported, and nine states accounted for >75% (1,226) of those deaths. Arizona recorded 426 deaths and had the highest rate (5.2 per 100,000), followed by Nevada (4.6), Oregon (2.4), Washington (1.9), and Louisiana (0.7). Rates for the remaining states ranged from 0.1 (Florida) to 0.3 (California and Texas).
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Multiple Cause of Death File, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/deaths.htm
Reported by: Arialdi Miniño, MPH, avm9@cdc.gov.
For more information on this topic, CDC recommends the following link: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/toolkits/extremeheat/
Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Rates of Death Involving Exposure to Excessive Heat Among States with the Highest Numbers of Deaths — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:971. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7235a7.
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